Artificial intelligence audio apparatus and operation method thereof

ABSTRACT

An artificial intelligence audio apparatus includes a sensing part which is configured to sense a current location and a temperature and/or a humidity thereof and sense whether a human exists in the current location; and a controller which is configured to receive weather information of the current location from an external server using location information of the current location, determine whether a predetermined greeting should be output when the human exists in the current location, and in response to determining that the predetermined greeting should be output, extract at least one of a greeting voice and a greeting text, from greeting data stored in a storage, which corresponds with a current time, at least one of the temperature and the humidity, and the weather information of the current location, and output the extracted at least one of the greeting voice and the greeting text.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority from Korean Patent Application No.10-2013-0127712, filed on Oct. 25, 2013 in the Korean IntellectualProperty Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein byreference.

BACKGROUND

Field

Apparatuses and methods consistent with the exemplary embodiments relateto an artificial intelligence audio apparatus which is capable ofinteracting with a human. In particular, exemplary embodiments relate toan artificial intelligence audio apparatus and an operation methodthereof which determines an existence of a human and says a greetingthat is suitable for a current time and surrounding environment, asksthe human whether to play music, and upon request, selects and playsmusic that is suitable for the surrounding environment and mood.Further, when certain music is played, adjusts a lighting suitable for atype of the played music to create a mood.

Description of the Related Art

In a related art, an audio apparatus such as an audio player is used toplay and listen to music widely used by people to get rid of stress whoare more engaged in mental labor than in manual labor.

The audio apparatus of the related art passively plays music selected bya user according to a user command. Accordingly, a user selects music tolisten to such music. Further, a user may not share a same feeling withthe audio apparatus such as an emotional feeling that otherwise mayoccur from an interaction with other people. Accordingly, a userrecognizes the audio apparatus simply as a device for playing music, andmay not have an emotional connection which may otherwise occur from aninteraction with people. In fact, the audio apparatus is primarily usedfor getting rid of stress through listening to music.

Accordingly, there is a need for an artificial intelligence audioapparatus which may comprehensively determine circumstances of a user,say greetings to a user, and at the same time provide music or mood moreactively or intelligently to a user, beyond a passive playing of musicaccording to a user command.

SUMMARY

Accordingly, the exemplary embodiments may provide an artificialintelligence audio apparatus and an operation method thereof which iscapable of determining an existence of a human and saying a greetingthat is suitable for a current time and surrounding environment.

Another exemplary embodiment may provide an artificial intelligenceaudio apparatus and an operation method thereof which is capable ofasking a user whether to play music and upon request, selecting andplaying music that is suitable for a current time, surroundingenvironment, and mood.

Still another exemplary embodiment may provide an artificialintelligence audio apparatus and an operation method thereof which iscapable of adjusting a lighting and creating a mood that is suitable fora certain music when the certain music is played.

An aspect of exemplary embodiments may provide an artificialintelligence audio apparatus including: a sensing part which isconfigured to sense a current location of the artificial intelligenceaudio apparatus and at least one of a temperature and a humidity of thecurrent location, and sense whether a human exists in the currentlocation; a first communicator which is configured to communicate withan external server through a network; a storage which is configured tostore greeting data which includes at least one of a plurality ofgreeting voices and a plurality of greeting texts according to aplurality of circumstances, and music data which includes a plurality ofmusic; a voice processor which is configured to process and output avoice and music; a display processor which is configured to process andoutput a text; and a controller which is configured to receive weatherinformation of the current location from the external server usinglocation information of the current location sensed by the sensing part,determine whether a predetermined greeting should be output when thesensing part senses an existence of the human in the current location,and in response to determining that the predetermined greeting should beoutput, extracts at least one of a greeting voice and a greeting text,from greeting data stored in the storage, which corresponds with acurrent time, at least one of the temperature and the humidity sensed bythe sensing part, and the weather information of the current locationreceived from the external server, and output the extracted at least oneof the greeting voice and the greeting text through at least one of thevoice processor and the display processor.

The sensing part may include a location sensor which is configured tosense the current location, a temperature and humidity sensor which isconfigured to sense the temperature and the humidity and a human bodydetection sensor which is configured to sense whether the human existsin the current location. Here, the location sensor may include a globalpositioning system (GPS) module. Also, the human body detection sensormay include at least one of a passive infrared (PIR) sensor which isconfigured to sense infrared rays, and a camera which is configured tophotograph an image.

The external server may include a weather information server which isconfigured to provide the weather information which includes the dateand the current time.

The storage may be further configured to store guiding data whichincludes a guiding voice and a guiding text for inquiring whether toplay music. In this case, the controller may be further configured toextract at least one of the guiding voice and the guiding text from theguiding data stored in the storage, and output the extracted at leastone of the guiding voice and the guiding text through the at least oneof the voice processor and the display processor, and in response to arequest for playing music, selecting a music from the music data storedin the storage which corresponds with the current time, the illuminationsensed by the sensing part and the weather information received from theexternal server, and output the music through the voice processor. Atthis time, the music data may be stored in the storage and classifiedinto folders according to time, weather, and the illumination.Alternatively, the music data may be stored in the storage andclassified with tag information according to time, weather and theillumination.

In addition, the artificial intelligence audio apparatus may furtherinclude an image processor which is configured to process an image andoutput the processed image to an external display apparatus. In thiscase, the controller may be further configured to output through theimage processor a greeting image, a guiding image and a videocorresponding to the greeting voice or the greeting text, the guidingvoice or the guiding text and the music, respectively, in an outputthereof.

A timing for outputting the predetermined greeting may include a timingwhen the artificial intelligence audio apparatus is turned on and aplurality of timings which occur whenever a certain time elapses afterthe artificial intelligence audio apparatus is turned on.

Also, the artificial intelligence audio apparatus may further include asecond communicator which is configured to wirelessly communicate withan illumination controller that controls an internal illumination. Here,the controller may be further configured to transmit an illuminationcontrol scenario, which corresponds to music that is output through thevoice processor, to the illumination controller through the secondcommunicator to control the internal illumination according to theillumination control scenario in response to selecting and listening tothe music.

Another aspect of exemplary embodiments may provide an operation methodof an artificial intelligence audio apparatus, the operation methodincluding: sensing a current location of the artificial intelligenceaudio apparatus and at least one of a temperature and a humidity of thecurrent location; receiving weather information through a network usinglocation information of the sensed current location; sensing whether ahuman exists in the current location; determining whether it is time tooutput a predetermined greeting in response to the human being sensed inthe current location; and extracting and outputting a greeting voice ora greeting text, from prestored greeting data, which corresponds with acurrent time, at least one of the sensed temperature and the sensedhumidity, and the weather information received through the network, inresponse to determining that it is the time to output the predeterminedgreeting.

The receiving the weather information may include receiving the date andthe current time.

The sensing whether the human exits may include sensing whether thehuman exits for every predetermined first time.

The determining whether it is time to output the predetermined greetingmay include determining when the artificial intelligence audio apparatusis turned on and determining when a plurality of timings at apredetermined second time elapses after the artificial intelligenceaudio apparatus is turned on.

The sensing the temperature and the humidity of the current locationfurther may include sensing an illumination of the current location, andthe outputting may further include: extracting and outputting at leastone of a guiding voice and a guiding text from prestored guiding data;and selecting and outputting music from prestored music data whichcorresponds with the current time, the sensed illumination, and theweather information received through the network in response to arequest to play the music.

At this time, the music data may be stored and classified into foldersaccording to time, weather, and the illumination. Alternatively, themusic data may be stored with tag information according to time,weather, and the illumination.

In addition, the outputting may further include further outputting agreeting image, a guiding image and a video corresponding to thegreeting voice or the greeting text, the guiding voice or the guidingtext and the music, respectively, in an output thereof.

Alternatively, the operation method may further include controlling aninternal illumination according to an illumination control scenariowhich corresponds to an output music in response to a user selecting andlistening to the music.

Another aspect of exemplary embodiments may provide a controller forcontrolling operations of an artificial intelligence audio apparatusincluding: a first control block which is configured to determinewhether a human exits in a current location of the artificialintelligence audio apparatus and output a greeting which correspondswith the current time and the current location of the artificialintelligence audio apparatus; a second control block which is configuredto inquire whether to play music corresponding to the current location,and select and play the music corresponding to the current location inresponse to a request to play music corresponding to the currentlocation being input; and a third control block which is configured toadjust an illumination corresponding to the music played.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and/or other aspects will become apparent and more readilyappreciated from the following description of the exemplary embodiments,taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an artificial intelligence audio apparatusaccording to an embodiment;

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of storing music data by the artificialintelligence audio apparatus according to the embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an artificial intelligence audio apparatusaccording to another embodiment; and

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing operation processes of the artificialintelligence audio apparatus in FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

Below, exemplary embodiments will be described in detail with referenceto accompanying drawings so as to be easily realized by a person havingordinary knowledge in the art. The exemplary embodiments may be embodiedin various forms without being limited to the exemplary embodiments setforth herein. Descriptions of well-known parts are omitted for clarity,and like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout.

Hereinafter, an artificial intelligence audio apparatus and an operationmethod thereof according to embodiments will be described in more detailwith reference to accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an artificial intelligence audio apparatus100 according to an embodiment.

The artificial intelligence audio apparatus 100 according to theembodiment is an intelligent device which may interact with a human, andincludes a device such as a home audio system, a car audio apparatus,and a mobile audio apparatus which may access the Internet and playmusic. Hereinafter, a mobile audio apparatus which may access theInternet will be explained as an example of the artificial intelligenceaudio apparatus 100.

As shown in FIG. 1, the artificial intelligence audio apparatus 100according to the embodiment includes a sensing part 110, a firstcommunicator 130, a user input 140, a storage 150, a voice processor160, a display processor 170, a second communicator 180, and acontroller 200.

The sensing part 110 obtains environmental information of a place wherethe artificial intelligence audio apparatus 100 is currently located(hereinafter, “current location”), and provides the environmentalinformation to the controller 200. The sensing part 110 includes alocation sensor 111, an illumination sensor 112, a temperature andhumidity sensor 113, and a human body detection sensor 114.

The location sensor 111 senses and provides the current location andcurrent time to the controller 200. Based on the location and currenttime information that has been sensed by the location sensor 111, thecontroller 200 collects weather information of the current location froman external server 210, e.g., from a weather information server 211through the first communicator 130. The controller 200 stores in thestorage 150 the sensed location and current time information and thecollected weather information of the current location.

The location sensor 111 may be implemented as a global positioningsystem (GPS) module to receive current location and current timeinformation from a satellite.

The temperature and humidity sensor 112 senses and provides an internaltemperature and humidity of the current location to the controller 200.As will be described later, based on temperature and humidityinformation that has been sensed by the thermometer 112, together withthe current time information sensed by the location sensor 111 and theweather information of the current location collected by the weatherinformation server 211, the controller 200 extracts a greeting voiceand/or greeting text that are suitable for the current time andsurrounding environment of the current location from greeting data 151stored in the storage 150, and outputs the extracted greeting voiceand/or greeting text to the voice processor 160 and/or display processor170. The controller 200 stores the sensed temperature and humidityinformation in the storage 150.

The illumination sensor 113 senses and provides an internal illuminationof the current location to the controller 200. As will be describedlater, based on an illumination signal that has been sensed by theillumination sensor 113 together with the current time informationsensed by the location sensor 111 and the weather information of thecurrent location collected by the weather information server 211, thecontroller 200 selects a music that is suitable for the current time andthe surrounding environment and mood of the current location from musicdata 153 stored in the storage 150, and outputs the music to the voiceprocessor 160. The controller 200 stores the sensed illuminationinformation in the storage 150.

The human body detection sensor 114 senses an existence or non-existenceof a human in the current location every predetermined first time, e.g.,every three minutes by a control of the controller 200. If the humanbody detection sensor 114 senses that there is a human in the currentlocation, the controller 200 determines whether to it is time to outputa predetermined greeting, and if so, extracts a greeting. The timing foroutputting the predetermined greeting may include a timing when theartificial intelligence audio apparatus 100 is turned on, and respectivetimings whenever a predetermined second time, e.g., three hours elapseafter the artificial intelligence audio apparatus 100 is turned on. Ifit is sensed that there is no human in the current location, thecontroller 200 further performs the operation of sensing the existenceor non-existence of a human in the current location for every first timeand for a predetermined frequency, e.g., three times, and if it issensed that that is still no human after the further performance ofthree times, turns off the artificial intelligence audio apparatus 100.The artificial intelligence audio apparatus 100 may be turned off bygradually decreasing a volume of a music output by a speaker through thevoice processor 160 and by fading out an image output by the displayunit 175 through the display processor 170.

The human body detection sensor 114 may be implemented as a passiveinfrared (PIR) sensor 115 to sense an infrared of a human.

The human body detection sensor 115 may also be implemented as a camera144 of the user input 140. The camera 144 includes a camera module, andphotographs an image by converting an optical signal into a videosignal. The camera module processes an image frame such as a still imageor video that is obtained by an image sensor and transmits the processedimage frame to the controller 200. The controller 200 may determine anexistence or non-existence of a human by a known method such ascomparing the transmitted image frame with a basis image that is storedin advance in the storage 150 for sensing an existence of a human, e.g.,a background screen, extracting a different part therefrom, andcomparing the different part with a stored figure image.

In addition to sensing the existence or non-existence of a human, thecamera 144 concurrently performs functions of the user input 140 forsensing a user motion gesture.

In addition to the aforementioned sensors, the sensing part 110 mayfurther include a gyro sensor (not shown) to sense a rotation of theartificial intelligence audio apparatus 100, and a shock sensor (notshown) to sense a shock of the artificial intelligence audio apparatus100.

The first communicator 130 communicates with the external server 210,e.g., with the weather information server 211 providing weatherinformation of a current location that is sensed by the location sensor111, through a network 101 by a control of the controller 200. The firstcommunicator 130 is implemented as a wired/wireless communication moduleto be connected to the network 101, and transmits location informationof the current location to the weather information server 211 by acontrol of the controller 200. Based on the location information of thecurrent location that is transmitted by the controller 200 through thefirst communicator 130, the weather information server 211 generatesweather information of the current location and transmits the weatherinformation to the controller 200 through the first communicator 130.The weather information may include weather information including thedate and time. By using the received weather information together withthe current time information sensed by the location sensor 111, thetemperature and humidity information sensed by the temperature andhumidity sensor 112, and/or the illumination signal sensed by theillumination sensor 113, the controller 200 extracts a greeting andmusic suitable for a surrounding environment and mood of the currentlocation from the greeting data 151 and music data 153 stored in thestorage 150.

The external server 210 may include a big data server such as a musicsource server 213 to provide music data, and a voice recognition server215 to provide voice recognition service, in addition to the weatherinformation server 211. Upon request from the controller 200 through thenetwork 101, the music source server 213 extracts and transmits arequested music to the controller 200. Upon request for voicerecognition service from the controller 200 through the network 101, thevoice recognition server 215 performs a voice recognition with respectto a voice signal transmitted by the controller 200, based on voicerecognition rules of an internal recognition regulation database andextracts a character from the voice signal and transmits recognitioninformation including the extracted character to the controller 200.

The user input 140 receives a user command. The user command includesinformation which is used to decide a performance of a predeterminedoperation by the artificial intelligence audio apparatus 100 by a useractivity, etc. The predetermined operation may include an operation ofcontrolling basic functions of the artificial intelligence audioapparatus 100 such as turning on and off and adjustment of a volume, andan operation of inputting various execution commands and settingsnecessary for executing firmware or an operating system (OS) stored inthe storage 200 or an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC)part. The user command may include a remote control signal that is inputthrough a manipulation of the remote controller 141, a key input signalthat is input through the key input 142, a touch input signal that isinput through a touch of the touch sensor 143, a gesture command signalthat is input through the camera 144, and/or a voice command signal thatis input through the microphone 145.

The remote controller 141 includes a remote controller (not shown) thathas input keys or buttons. A remote control signal receiver (not shown)receives a remote control signal including key input informationcorresponding to a user input from the remote controller, and transmitsthe remote control signal to the controller 200. The controller 200controls a corresponding function and/or elements in response to theremote control signal.

The key input 142 includes input keys or buttons that are formed in afront lower part or lateral part of a case (not shown) of the artificialintelligence audio apparatus 100. The key input 142 generates a keysignal related to controlling a function of the artificial intelligenceaudio apparatus 100 according to a user input that is given through theinput key or button, and transmits the key signal to the controller 200.The key signal includes a power on/off signal, a volume adjustmentsignal, etc. The controller 200 controls a corresponding function and/orelements in response to a key signal that is input through the key input142.

The touch sensor 143 is installed in a front surface of the display unit175, and generates a touch input signal corresponding to a usermanipulation that is made through a touch input device such as a pen ora user finger, and transmits the touch input signal to the controller200. The controller 200 controls a corresponding function and/orelements in response to the touch input signal. The touch sensor 143 maybe implemented as a resistive type, a capacitive type, or a pressuretype.

As explained above, the camera 144 includes a camera module thatprocesses an image frame such as a still image or video obtained by animage sensor and transmits the image frame to the controller 200. Thecontroller 200 compares the transmitted image frame with motion gestureimage information that is stored in advance in the storage 150, and ifthere is a gesture image that is equal to the transmitted image frame,determines that the motion gesture command signal has been input, andcontrols a corresponding function and/or elements. The camera 144 mayalso perform the function of sensing the existence or non-existence of ahuman by the human body detection sensor 114 of the sensing part 110.

The microphone 145 includes a microphone to convert a voice into anelectrical signal. The microphone converts a user voice into anelectrical signal and transmits the electrical signal to the controller200. The controller 200 compares the voice signal transmitted by themicrophone, with voice command information stored in the storage 150. Ifthere is a voice command that is equal to the transmitted voice signal,the controller 200 determines that the voice command signal has beeninput, and controls a corresponding function and/or elements. If a voicerecognition function has been selected through the remote controller 141or the touch sensor 143, the controller 200 transmits the voice signalprovided by the microphone, to the voice recognition server 215 togetherwith a request for a voice recognition service, and receives recognitioninformation including a character that is included in an extracted voicesignal through the voice recognition server 215, and controls thedisplay processor 170 to display the character included in the receivedrecognition information through the display unit 175.

The storage 150 stores therein firmware or an operating system (OS) as acontrol program necessary to drive the artificial intelligence audioapparatus 100.

The storage 150 stores therein greeting data 151 including a pluralityof greeting voices and/or a plurality of greeting texts according tocircumstances, and music data 153 including a plurality of music.

The greeting data 151 are used to extract a greeting that is suitablefor the current time and surrounding environment of the currentlocation, based on the current time sensed by the location sensor 111,the weather information collected from the weather information server211 and the temperature and humidity information sensed by thetemperature and humidity sensor 112.

As shown in Table 1 below, various greeting voices and greeting texts ofthe greeting data 151 may be set and stored corresponding to the currenttime and surrounding environment of the current location, i.e.,corresponding to weather and temperature/humidity.

TABLE 1 Example of greeting voices and greeting texts CategoryDescription Prior words Good morning (afternoon or evening). A finespring rain falls this morning (afternoon or evening). It's cold thismorning (afternoon or evening) due to the last cold snap. MerryChristmas! Good morning (afternoon or evening). . . . Main sentence Theweather in [name of territory] on [date] is clear (cloudy) and currenttemperature is xx° C., humidity xx% and internal temperature xx° C. . .. Ending word Good luck today. Have a nice day. . . .

As explained above, the music data 153 are used to extract a music thatis suitable for the current time and mood of the current location, basedon the current time sensed by the location sensor 111, the weatherinformation collected from the weather information server 211, andillumination information sensed by the illumination sensor 113.

As in Table 2 below, the music data 153 may be classified into foldersand stored in the storage 200 according to a current time (e.g., morningfrom 5 a.m. to 10 a.m., afternoon from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and eveningfrom 6 p.m. to 5 a.m.), weather (e.g., clear, cloudy), and mood (e.g.,illumination) of the current location. The mood may be decided dependingon the illumination. For example, if an illumination is high, the moodmay be classified as light or lightness. If an illumination is low, themood may be classified as dark.

TABLE 2 Example of Stored Music Data Folder Name Type of MusicMorning_Clear Vivid music Weather_Light Mood Morning_Cloudy Dance musicWeather_Dark Mood Dynamic music with quick beat Afternoon_Clear Calmmusic (ballad, etc.) Weather_Light Mood Afternoon_Cloudy Sweet musicWeather_Light Mood (Rock ballad, R&B, etc.) . . . . . .

Otherwise, as shown in FIG. 2, the music data 153 may be stored byhaving tag information 155 according to the current time (e.g., morningfrom 5 a.m. to 10 a.m., afternoon from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and eveningfrom 6 p.m. to 5 a.m.), weather (clear, cloudy), and mood (e.g.,illumination) of the current location.

The classification and storage of the music data 153 may be performedthrough a setting picture or window (not shown) that is executed anddisplayed by the ASIC part after a user listens to music.

The storage 150 may further store therein guiding data 156 including aguiding voice and guiding text asking a user whether to play music.

The guiding voice and/or guiding text is output through a speaker and/orthe display unit 175 after the greeting voice and/or greeting text isgiven to a user by a control of the controller 200.

The guiding voice and/or guiding text may include, e.g., “Would you liketo play music?”

The storage 150 may store therein motion gesture image informationcorresponding to a plurality of motion gesture commands and voicecommand information corresponding to a plurality of voice commands tocontrol operations of the artificial intelligence audio apparatus 100.The motion gesture image information and voice command information areused to recognize a motion gesture command and voice command by beingcompared with a motion gesture command and voice command that are inputby a user through the camera 144 and microphone 145, respectively.

The storage 150 may store therein various information and/or contentscollected from the external server 210 such as the weather informationserver 211, the music server 213, and the like through the network 101by the controller 200 according to a user input given through the userinput 140, time and location information, temperature and humidityinformation, and illumination information sensed by the sensing part110.

The storage 150 may be implemented as a storage medium including atleast one of a flash memory type, a hard disc type, a multimedia cardmicro type, a card-type memory (e.g., SD or XD memory), random accessmemory (RAM), static random access memory (SRAM), a read only memory(ROM), electrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM),programmable read only memory (PROM), magnetic memory, magnetic disc,and optical disc.

The voice processor 160 processes a greeting voice of the greeting data151 and music of the music data 153 stored in the storage 150, andoutputs the processed greeting voice and music to the speaker by acontrol of the controller 200. The voice processor 160 may beimplemented as an audio amplifier.

The display processor 170 processes a graphic image and/or messageshowing an operation of the artificial intelligence audio apparatus 100stored in the storage 150, and outputs the processed graphic imageand/or message to the display unit 175 by a control of the controller200.

The display processor 170 processes a greeting text of the greeting data151 and a guiding text of the guiding data 156 stored in the storage150, and outputs the greeting text and guiding text to the display unit175 by a control of the controller 200.

The display unit 175 displays therein the graphic image and text thathave been processed by the display processor 170. The display unit 175may be implemented as a liquid crystal display (LCD) or vacuumfluorescent display (VFD).

In another exemplary embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, an artificialintelligence audio apparatus 100′ may further include an image processor180 that processes an image stored in the storage 150 and outputs theprocessed image to an external display apparatus 181 such as a monitoror a television (TV) by a control of the controller 200. In such case,the music data 153 stored in the storage 150 may include a plurality ofvideos corresponding to a plurality of music. The greeting data 151 andguiding data 156 may further include a plurality of greeting images andguiding images corresponding to a plurality of greeting voices or aplurality of greeting texts and guiding voices or guiding texts.Accordingly, when the greeting voice or greeting text, guiding voice orguiding text and music are output, the controller 200 may processcorresponding greeting image, guiding image and video through the imageprocessor 180, and output the processed images and video to the externaldisplay apparatus 181.

The second communicator 185 communicates with a counterpart communicator191 of an illumination controller 190 which controls an internalillumination 250, by a control of the controller 200. The secondcommunicator 185 may be connected to the counterpart communicator 191 ofthe illumination controller 190 in a wired manner through USB or mobilehigh-definition link (MHL), or wirelessly through Wi-Fi or Bluetooth.

The controller 200 may control overall operations of the artificialintelligence audio apparatus 100 and may include a central processingunit (CPU) and a RAM to execute firmware or OS as a control programstored in the storage 150.

The controller 200 may include a first control block 201 to determine anexistence of a human through the human body detection sensor 114 of thesensing part 110 and say a greeting suitable for the current time andsurrounding environment, a second control block 203 to ask whether toplay music and upon request for music, to select and play a musicsuitable for the surrounding environment and mood, and a third controlblock 205 to adjust illumination and create a mood to be suitable for atype of a certain music if the certain music is played.

The first control block 201 collects weather information of the currentlocation from the weather information server 211 based on locationinformation of the current location sensed by the location sensor 111 ofthe sensing part 110. The first control block 201 controls the humanbody detection sensor 114 to sense an existence or non-existence of ahuman for every preset first time, e.g., for every three minutes. If thehuman body detection sensor 114 senses that there is a human in thecurrent location, the first control block 201 determines whether it istime to output a predetermined greeting. If it is determined that it istime to output the predetermined greeting, the first control block 201analyzes the current time sensed by the location sensor 111 of thesensing part 110, the temperature and humidity sensed by the temperatureand humidity sensor 112, and the weather information of the currentlocation collected from the weather information server 211, and extractsa greeting voice and greeting text from the greeting data 151 stored inTable 1 above, and outputs the extracted greeting voice and greetingtext to the speaker and display unit 175 through the voice processor 160and display processor 170, respectively. The timing for outputting thepredetermined greeting may include timing when the artificialintelligence audio apparatus 100 is turned on, and respective timingswhenever a predetermined second time, e.g., three hours elapse after theartificial intelligence audio apparatus 100 is turned on.

For example, if the current location is Yongin city (e.g., locationinformation), current time is Mar. 7, 2013, 7 a.m. (e.g., timeinformation), weather is clear, temperature is 15° C., humidity is 45%(e.g., weather information), and internal temperature is 25° C. (e.g.,temperature information), the controller 200 may extract and output agreeting voice and greeting text “Good morning. On March 7, weather inYongin city is clear, current temperature is 15° C., humidity 45%, andinternal temperature 25° C. Good luck.”

If it is sensed that there is no human in the current location, thefirst control block 201 further performs the operation of sensing theexistence or non-existence of a human in the current location for everyfirst time, e.g., for every three minutes, and for a predeterminedfrequency, e.g., three times more, and if it is determined that there isstill no human, turns off the artificial intelligence audio apparatus100.

It has been explained above that the first control block 201 outputsboth the greeting voice and greeting text to the speaker and displayunit 175 through the voice processor 160 and display processor 170,respectively. However, if a user sets to output only one of the greetingvoice and greeting text through a setting window or screen executed anddisplayed by the ASIC part, the first control block 201 controls thevoice processor 160 or the display processor 170 to output only acorresponding greeting voice or greeting text.

As shown in FIG. 3, if the artificial intelligence audio apparatus 100′further includes the image processor 180, the first control block 201may process a greeting image corresponding to the greeting voice andgreeting text through the image processor 180 and transmit the processedgreeting image to the external display apparatus 181.

The second control block 203 may extract a guiding voice and guidingtext from the guiding data 156 stored in the storage 150, may output theextracted guiding voice and guiding text to the speaker and display unit175 through the voice processor 160 and display processor 170,respectively, and upon request from a user for playing music through theuser input 140, may extract music suitable for the current time sensedby the location sensor 111 of the sensing part 110, the illumination(e.g., mood) sensed by the illumination sensor 113 of the sensing part140 and the weather information provided by the weather informationserver 211, and may output the extracted music to the speaker throughthe voice processor 160.

Since the storage 150 stores therein music data 153 that is classifiedinto folders according to the current time, weather, and mood (e.g.,illumination) as in Table 2, or that has the tag information 155according to the current time, weather, and mood (e.g., illumination) asshown in FIG. 2, the second control block 203 may easily extract musicby using the current time, illumination (e.g., mood), and weatherinformation.

As shown in FIG. 3, if the artificial intelligence audio apparatus 100′further includes the image processor 180, the second control block 203may process a guiding image corresponding to the guiding voice andguiding text and a video corresponding to the music through the imageprocessor 180, and output the processed guiding image and video to theexternal display apparatus 181.

If a user selects music through the user input 140 from a musicexecution window or screen (not shown) that is executed and displayed bythe ASIC part and listens to the selected music, the third control block205 generates an illumination control scenario through an illuminationcontrol scenario generator 230 to adjust brightness and color of anillumination 250 according to the music that is output through the voiceprocessor 160, and transmits the generated illumination control scenarioto the counterpart communicator 191 of the illumination controller 190through the second communicator 185. The illumination control scenariogenerator 230 may generate the illumination control scenario through ageneration algorithm. The illumination controller 190 controls theinternal illumination 250 according to the illumination control scenariothat has been received through the counterpart communicator 191.

The first to third control blocks 201, 203 and 205 may be implemented asthe ASIC part that is designed to have greeting/music andselection/illumination control programs to perform functions thereof.

Hereinafter, an operation method of the artificial intelligence audioapparatus 100 according to the embodiment will be described in detailwith reference to FIG. 4.

The controller 200 controls the sensing part 110 to sense the currentlocation and current time in a current place where the artificialintelligence audio apparatus 100 is located, and sense the temperature,humidity, and illumination of the current location (S100).

The controller 200 collects the weather information from the weatherinformation server 211 through the network 101 based on the locationinformation of the current place sensed by the sensing part 110 (S110).The weather information includes weather information including the dateand time.

The controller 200 controls the sensing part 110 to sense the existenceor non-existence of a human in the current place for every predeterminedfirst time, e.g., for every three minutes (S120).

If it is sensed that there is a human in the current location atoperation S120, the controller 200 determines whether it is time tooutput the predetermined greeting (S130). The timing for outputting thepredetermined greeting may include the timing when the artificialintelligence audio apparatus 100 is turned on, and the respectivetimings whenever the predetermined second time, e.g., three hours elapseafter the artificial intelligence audio apparatus 100 is turned on.

If it is determined at operation S130 that it is time to output thepredetermined greeting, the controller 200 extracts the greeting voiceand greeting text from the greeting data 151 stored in advance in thestorage 150, corresponding to the greeting that is consistent with thecurrent time sensed by the sensing part 110, the temperature andhumidity of the current location sensed by the sensing part 110, and theweather information collected through the network 101, and outputs theextracted greeting voice and greeting text to the speaker and displayunit 175 through the voice processor 160 and display processor 170,respectively (S140).

If a user sets to output only one of the greeting voice and greetingtext through the setting screen executed and displayed by the ASIC part,the controller 200 controls the voice processor 160 or display processor170 to output only the set greeting voice or greeting text.

The controller 200 outputs the guiding voice and guiding text extractedfrom the guiding data 156 stored in advance in the storage 150, to thespeaker and display unit 175 through the voice processor 160 and displayprocessor 170 (S150).

If a user sets to output only one of the guiding voice and guiding textthrough the setting screen executed and displayed by the ASIC part, thecontroller 200 controls the voice processor 160 or display processor 170to output only the set guiding voice or guiding text.

If a user requests to play a music through the user input 140, thecontroller 200 extracts the music from the music data 153 stored inadvance in the storage 150 that is consistent with the current timesensed by the sensing part 110, the illumination sensed by the sensingpart 110, and the weather information collected through the network 101,and outputs the extracted music to the speaker through the voiceprocessor 160 (S160).

Since the music data 153 are stored in the storage 150 by beingclassified into folders according to the current time and weather andillumination (e.g., mood) of the current location or by having the taginformation 155 according to the current time and weather andillumination (e.g., mood) of the current location, the controller 200may easily extract the music from the music data 153.

If the output of the extracted music is completed at operation S160, thecontroller 200 repeats the operations S100 to S160 until the artificialintelligence audio apparatus 100 is turned off by a user input throughthe user input 140.

If a user selects the music through the user input 140 from the musicexecution screen executed and displayed by the ASIC part and listens tothe selected music after the operation S160, the controller 200 controlsthe internal illumination 250 according to the illumination controlscenario of the music to be output (S170).

If it is determined at operation S120 that there is no human in thecurrent location, the controller 200 further performs the operation ofsensing the existence or non-existence of a human in the currentlocation for every first time, e.g., for every three minutes and for thepredetermined frequency, e.g., three times more, and if still no humanis sensed, turns off the artificial intelligence audio apparatus 100.The artificial intelligence audio apparatus 100 may be turned off bygradually decreasing the volume of the music output through the speakerand by fading out the image displayed on the display unit 175.

As shown in FIG. 3, if the artificial intelligence audio apparatus 100′further includes the image processor 180, when the greeting voice and/orgreeting text, guiding voice and/or guiding text and music are output,at operations S140, S150, and S160, the controller 200 may control theimage processor 180 to further output the corresponding greeting image,guiding image, and video to the external display apparatus.

As explained above, the artificial intelligence audio apparatuses 100and 100′ and operation method thereof according to the embodiments maydetermine an existence or non-existence of a human to interact with thehuman, say greetings suitable for the current time and surroundingenvironment, ask whether to play music, and upon request for music,select and play music suitable for the current time, surroundingenvironment and mood, and adjust illumination according to the type of acertain music to create a mood when the certain music is played. As aresult, a user may recognize the audio apparatus as an interactingapparatus, and may get rid of stress as well as having an emotionalconnection as if the user is interacting with another human.

Although a few exemplary embodiments have been shown and described, itwill be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be madein these exemplary embodiments without departing from the principles andspirit, the range of which is defined in the appended claims and theirequivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. An artificial intelligence audio apparatusoperable to provide a content service, comprising: a circumstanceinformation obtaining device configured to obtain circumstanceinformation comprising at least one of a location, a date, a currenttime, a temperature, a humidity, an existence of human, or anillumination, which is related with an surrounding environment; a firstcommunication interface circuitry configured to communicate with anexternal server through a network; an audio output device configured tooutput an audio; a video output device configured to output a video; atleast one memory operable to store program instructions; and at leastone processor operable to read the stored program instructions;according to the stored program instructions, the at least one processoris configured: to collect reference information for the content servicefrom the external server using the circumstance information obtained bythe circumstance information obtaining device, and to output, via atleast one of the audio output device or the video output device, theaudio or the video of content service information comprising at leastone of a greeting or a music, which corresponds to a currentcircumstance, based on the collected reference information.
 2. Theartificial intelligence audio apparatus according to claim 1, whereinthe circumstance information obtaining device comprises a sensor partconfigured to sense a current location of the artificial intelligenceaudio apparatus and at least one of the temperature or a humidity of thecurrent location, and sense whether a human exists in the currentlocation, and wherein the sensor part comprises: a location sensorconfigured to sense the current location; a temperature and humiditysensor configured to sense the temperature and the humidity; and a humanbody detection sensor configured to sense whether the human exists inthe current location.
 3. The artificial intelligence audio apparatusaccording to claim 2, wherein the location sensor comprises a globalpositioning system (GPS) module.
 4. The artificial intelligence audioapparatus according to claim 2, wherein the human body detection sensorcomprises at least one of a passive infrared (PIR) sensor configured tosense infrared rays, and a camera configured to photograph an image. 5.The artificial intelligence audio apparatus according to claim 1,wherein the external server comprises a weather information serverconfigured to provide the weather information which comprises the dateand the current time.
 6. The artificial intelligence audio apparatusaccording to claim 2, further comprising a non-transitory machinereadable medium configured to store greeting texts according to aplurality of circumstances, and music data which comprises a pluralityof music. wherein the medium is further configured to store guiding datawhich comprises a guiding voice and a guiding text for inquiring whetherto play the music.
 7. The artificial intelligence audio apparatusaccording to claim 6, wherein the at least one processor is configured;to collect weather information of the current location from the externalserver using location information of the current location sensed by asensor part; to determine whether a predetermined greeting should beoutput when the sensor part senses an existence of the human in thecurrent location; in response to determining that the predeterminedgreeting should be output, to extract at least one of a greeting voiceor a greeting text, from greeting data stored in the medium, whichcorresponds with a current time, a least one of a temperature or ahumidity sensed by the sensor part, and the weather information of thecurrent location received from the external server; and to output theextracted at least one of the greeting voice or the greeting textthrough at least one of the audio output device or the video outputdevice, wherein the at least one processor is further configured toextract at least one of the guiding voice or the guiding text from theguiding data stored in the medium, and output the extracted at least oneof the guiding voice or the guiding text through the at least one of theaudio output device or the video output device, and in response to arequest for playing music, to select music from the music data stored inthe medium which corresponds with the current time, the illuminationsensed by the sensor part and the weather information received from theexternal server, and output the music through the audio output device.8. The artificial intelligence audio apparatus according to claim 7,wherein the music data is stored in the medium and classified intofolders according to time, weather, and the illumination.
 9. Theartificial intelligence audio apparatus according to claim 7, whereinthe music data is stored in the medium and classified with taginformation according to time, weather, and the illumination.
 10. Theartificial intelligence audio apparatus according to claim 7, whereinthe at least one processor is further configured: to process an imageand output the processed image to an external display apparatus.
 11. Theartificial intelligence audio apparatus according to claim 10, whereinthe at least one processor is further configured to output through animage processor a greeting image, a guiding image and a videocorresponding to the greeting voice or the greeting text, the guidingvoice or the guiding text and the music, respectively, in an outputthereof.
 12. The artificial intelligence audio apparatus according toclaim 7, wherein a timing for outputting the predetermined greetingcomprises a timing when the artificial intelligence audio apparatus isturned on and a plurality of timings which occur whenever a certain timeelapses after the artificial intelligence audio apparatus is turned on.13. The artificial intelligence audio apparatus according to claim 1,further comprising: a second communicator circuity configured towirelessly communicate with an illumination controller that controls aninternal illumination.
 14. The artificial intelligence audio apparatusaccording to claim 13, wherein the at least one processor is furtherconfigured to transmit an illumination control scenario, whichcorresponds to music that is output through the audio output device, tothe illumination controller through the second communicator circuity tocontrol the internal illumination according to the illumination controlscenario in response to selecting and listening to the music.
 15. Anoperation method of an artificial intelligence audio apparatus operableto provide a content service, the operation method comprising: obtainingcircumstance information comprising at least one of a location, a date,a current time, a temperature, a humidity, an existence of human, or anillumination, which is related with an surrounding environment;collecting reference information for the content service through anetwork using the obtained circumstance information; and outputting anaudio or a video of content service information comprising at least oneof a greeting or a music, which corresponds to a current circumstance,based on the collected reference information.
 16. The operation methodaccording to claim 15, wherein the obtaining the circumstanceinformation comprises collecting weather information through a networkusing location information of the sensed current location, and whereinthe collecting the weather information comprises receiving a weather, adate and the current time.
 17. The operation method according to claim15, wherein the obtaining the circumstance information comprises sensingwhether a human exists in the current location, and wherein the sensingwhether the human exists comprises sensing whether the human exists forevery predetermined first time.
 18. The operation method according toclaim 17, wherein the outputting further comprises determining whetherit is time to output a predetermined greeting in response to determiningthat the human exist in the current location, and wherein thedetermining whether it is time to output the predetermined greetingcomprises determining when the artificial intelligence audio apparatusis turned on and determining when a plurality of timings at apredetermined second time elapses after the artificial intelligenceaudio apparatus is turned on.
 19. The operation method according toclaim 15, wherein the obtaining the circumstance information comprisessensing a current location of the artificial intelligence audioapparatus and at least one of a temperature or a humidity of the currentlocation, and wherein the sensing the temperature and the humidity ofthe current location further comprises sensing an illumination of thecurrent location, and the outputting further comprises: extracting andoutputting at least one of a guiding voice or a guiding text fromprestored guiding data; and selecting and outputting music fromprestored music data which corresponds with the current time, the sensedillumination, and the weather information received through the networkin response to a request to play the music.
 20. The operation methodaccording to claim 19, wherein the music data is stored and classifiedinto folders according to time, weather and the illumination.
 21. Theoperation method according to claim 19, wherein the music data is storedwith tag information according to time, weather, and the illumination.22. The operation method according to claim 19, wherein the outputtingfurther comprises outputting a greeting image, a guiding image and avideo corresponding to the greeting voice or the greeting text, theguiding voice or the guiding text and the music, respectively, in anoutput thereof.
 23. The operation method according to claim 15, furthercomprising: controlling an internal illumination according to anillumination control scenario which corresponds to an output music inresponse to selecting and listening to the music.
 24. An apparatus forcontrolling operations of an artificial intelligence audio apparatusoperable to play music, comprising: at least one memory operable tostore program instructions; and at least one processor operable to readthe stored program instructions; according to the stored programinstructions, the at least one processor is configured: to determinewhether a human exists in a current location of the artificialintelligence audio apparatus and output a greeting which correspondswith the current time and the current location of the artificialintelligence audio apparatus; to inquire whether to play musiccorresponding to the current location, and select and play the musiccorresponding to the current location in response to a request to playmusic corresponding to the current location being input; and to adjustan illumination corresponding to the music played.
 25. The controller asclaimed in claim 24, wherein the at least one processor is furtherconfigured to receive weather information of the current location of theartificial intelligence audio apparatus from a weather informationserver based on the current location of the artificial intelligenceaudio apparatus.
 26. The controller as claimed in claim 24, wherein theat least one processor is further configured to determine whether thehuman exists every predetermined first time.
 27. The controller asclaimed in claim 24, wherein the at least one processor is furtherconfigured to extract a guiding voice and a guiding text from guidingdata stored in a storage.
 28. The controller as claimed in claim 24,wherein the at least one processor is further configured to generate anillumination control scenario to adjust brightness and color of theillumination according to the music played.